On April 22nd, 2013 Tim DeChristopher was released from Federal Prison after serving his 2 year sentence. A month before his release, Tim was accepted into Harvard Divinity School for Fall 2013.

Tim DeChristopher’s 5 year struggle within the US Justice System has come to a close, but the battle for a livable future continues. Get involved. Act. Organize.

"Throughout my incarceration I have witnessed the direct personal impacts of a legal system obsessed

with technicalities rather than justice. The prisons I have been in are filled with nonviolent inmates suffering from mandatory minimums and other policies which are completely detached from the best interests of the individual or society. The injustice on display in my case is truly systemic, and we will put our continuing efforts toward creating a system of genuine justice for all."

--by Richard Lance Christie
On November 6, the Salt Lake Tribune editorialized that “Bush administration officials are rushing to implement new rules and change old...
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DeChristopher protests show change for environmental movementLast Updated on 2011-03-05 00:00:00 SALT LAKE CITY — Now that environmental activist Tim DeChristopher has been convicted for monkey wrenching a Bureau of Land Management auction, it remains to be seen what impact he will have on the environmental movement.
Even DeChristopher himself has said that his cause is larger than climate change or protecting the environment and more about righting the wrongs caused by the unjust — be it the government or others.
"This is about building self-empowerment," DeChristopher told a crowd of supporters Thursday after his conviction in federal court on violating an onshore oil and gas leasing act and false statements to the government because he posed as a bidder at a controversial auction of public lands for oil and gas development.
After winning 14 bids of land valued at nearly $1.8 million, DeChristopher is now staring at a prison term of up to 10... More »

Tim DeChristopher's Speech After Guilty Verdict for Climate Civil DisobedienceLast Updated on 2011-03-03 00:00:00On Thursday, a jury in Salt Lake City declared climate activist Tim DeChristopher guilty for his interference with an oil and gas auction held at the end of the Bush administration. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years, to be determined by a judge.
The following is a transcript and video of Tim's speech outside of the courthouse after the guilty verdict was handed down. Tim's words are reminiscent of the heroes of other social movements that used civil disobedience to achieve their ends. And they're a challenge to all of us working to solve the climate crisis to consider our own willingness to go to jail for our beliefs (in fact, a website, Climate Direct Action, has been set up for people to sign up to learn more about how to take part in civil disobedience for the climate).
Here is Tim's speech:
What the world wanted to see was how you would react. And you have reacted... More »

Tim DeChristopher Trial Begins in Utah Last Updated on 2011-02-28 00:00:00SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds of activists marched to the federal courthouse Monday to support a man who became an environmental folk hero by faking the purchase of $1.7 million of federal oil-and-gas drilling leases in an act of civil disobedience.
Tim DeChristopher, 29, has pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court to felony counts of interfering with and making false representations at a government auction.
DeChristopher's fate will be in the hands of a jury – eight men and four women – once opening statements are made in the case on Tuesday. The trial is expected to last until Friday.
The possibility of just one juror sympathetic to environmental causes could keep DeChristopher from a conviction, although a hung jury could result in him being retried.
Prosecutors have offered DeChristopher multiple plea deals over the past two years, but he rejected... More »

Call to ActionLast Updated on 2010-02-08 10:34:02 [The following was co-written by Naomi Klein, author of #1 NYT bestseller The Shock Doctrine, Terry Tempest Williams, world renowned wildlife author, Bill Mckibben, founter of 350.org and author of The End Of Nature, and Dr. James Hansen, author ofStorms of my Grandchildren, and who is regarded as the world's leading climatologist. All recognize the trial of Tim DeChristopher to be a turning point in the climate movement. Included are links to resources for travel to Utah]
Dear Friends,
The epic fight to ward off global warming and transform the energy system that is at the core of our planet’s economy takes many forms: huge global days of action, giant international conferences like the one that just failed in Copenhagen, small... More »

The Monkey-Wrench Prank: An Interview With Tim DeChristopherLast Updated on 2009-11-13 00:00:00 By Bryan Farrell | Fri November 13, 2009 4:00 AM PST
During the final days of the Bush administration, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) scheduled a controversial auction of oil and gas leases on federal lands, including areas bordering national parks and monuments in Utah. While environmental organizations launched a round of protests and lawsuits, Tim DeChristopher, a 27-year-old econ major at the University of Utah, decided he had to try to stop the sale by himself. Not knowing exactly how he'd do it, DeChristopher walked into the auction in Salt Lake City on December 19, 2008, and had a sneaky idea handed to him in the form of a bidder's paddle. Simply by raising it again and again and pretending to bid on the leases, he proceeded to drive up their prices and outbid the real speculators on 13 parcels covering more than 22,000 acres and worth $1.7... More »

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